Can you show me the POST string ?
If it's an Ami or award bios it helps indentifying the manufacturer.

Please have a look in the site in my signature as well 😀

Deksor wrote on 2020-09-30, 05:32:

Can you show me the POST string ?
If it's an Ami or award bios it helps indentifying the manufacturer.

Please have a look in the site in my signature as well 😀

Here ya go!

Don't mind the weird ram errors. In trying to use SIMMS in a SIMM socket mounted onto the sipp slots but I don't think it's liking it too much.

Quadtel bios 😒

Now it has an id too 🤔 maybe they indicate the manufacturer in these too ? I'll look into that.
But yeah sadly I can't help much more 😒
You may have to guess the jumpers unless you find it on uh19

Deksor wrote on 2020-09-30, 06:29:

Quadtel bios :/ […]
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Quadtel bios 😒

Now it has an id too 🤔 maybe they indicate the manufacturer in these too ? I'll look into that.
But yeah sadly I can't help much more 😒
You may have to guess the jumpers unless you find it on uh19

I have a XT IDE ready to go theoretically, no more Quadtel
Nope, couldn't find it on UH19 during my limited search.

Ext batt header is most likely at the top of the Keybaord connector between 2nd and 3rd ISA port - the 4-pin one. Check the connectivity to the battery header first.

The other 2-pin connectors are for Turbo/Power LED - connect a LED and try, there is no risk.

The other 4-Pin one is speaker - try 😉

The 5-Pin one most likely Turbo and Keylock. Dont try it, you dont need them.

So what do you need a manual for? 😉

Predator99 wrote on 2020-09-30, 06:44:

Ext batt header is most likely at the top of the Keybaord connector between 2nd and 3rd ISA port - the 4-pin one. Check the conn […]
Show full quote

Ext batt header is most likely at the top of the Keybaord connector between 2nd and 3rd ISA port - the 4-pin one. Check the connectivity to the battery header first.

The other 2-pin connectors are for Turbo/Power LED - connect a LED and try, there is no risk.

The other 4-Pin one is speaker - try 😉

The 5-Pin one most likely Turbo and Keylock. Dont try it, you dont need them.

So what do you need a manual for? 😉

Mostly just incase there where any jumpers of note. Particularly for ram

I'm having some serious ram issues with this board as shown above., and I'm not sure if it's the SIMM-Adapter it doesn't like, Or if it's something with the board itself.

Note this ram has worked fine on another 286 board.

Check above in the bios string for the listed error. It's just variations of that upon boot.

Testx is great for 286 RAM testing:
Re: ISA XMS/EMS Memory Extension / Expansion cards: Now Running without Driver / Documentation :-)

I dont see any jumpers for RAM configuration? The RAM problem may also be related to the "system timer error" because its needed for memory refresh at least for XT systems?

Do you also have errors when configure for 1024 kb (4x256kb)?

Predator99 wrote on 2020-09-30, 09:15:

Testx is great for 286 RAM testing: Re: ISA XMS/EMS Memory Extension / Expansion cards: Now Running without Driver / Documentati […]
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Testx is great for 286 RAM testing:
Re: ISA XMS/EMS Memory Extension / Expansion cards: Now Running without Driver / Documentation :-)

I dont see any jumpers for RAM configuration? The RAM problem may also be related to the "system timer error" because its needed for memory refresh at least for XT systems?

Do you also have errors when configure for 1024 kb (4x256kb)?

The mystery continues.

I unfortunately don't have a full set of 4x256k anymore. Two went bad confirmed and I had to toss them. Just out of curiosity I gave the remaining 2 I had a try and wow! It actually got into DOS.

Unlike my 2x1MB these sticks seem to wanna work off the bat. Sometimes (usually after re inserting) il be thrown memory errors. But after applying a bit of pressure to make sure they're seated properly. It's successfully pass the memory test.

No matter how much I reseat my 2X1MB, it makes no difference however.

Left is the 2x256k. Right is the trouble pair of 2x1MB

I have no idea what's going on with that 2 meg set. It's accepted fine in my other 286 board. Anyone know anything about Parity? I tried to skip to DOS after the failed 2 meg memory test and it complained about it before freezing

Maybe this board needs that. I honestly have no clue 🙁

As for the Sys Timer. It's still getting angry about that. Is it an actual chip on the board, or just the bios being grumpy it can't save the time?

I am going to add your board to UH19.
The image you posted is "ok", but it could be better (blurry and a little bit dark). Would you like to make a better one ? ^^

The 3-IC SIMM modules all have parity; the third chip is always smaller 1bit x 256k for example vs. twice 4bit x 256k. So that shouldn't be any problem.

However, either my eyes are imagining it, or you have mismatched SIMMs on the right. I count 32 pins in the upper SIMM module, but only 30 pins in the lower. I would expect both to be 30 pin SIMM modules. Could that be the problem? I have never seen 32 pin SIMMs, to be honest.

Deksor wrote on 2020-09-30, 17:45:

I am going to add your board to UH19.
The image you posted is "ok", but it could be better (blurry and a little bit dark). Would you like to make a better one ? ^^

Hi there! Il gladly take a picture for you later once iv finished some IRL work!

root42 wrote on 2020-09-30, 18:07:

The 3-IC SIMM modules all have parity; the third chip is always smaller 1bit x 256k for example vs. twice 4bit x 256k. So that shouldn't be any problem.

However, either my eyes are imagining it, or you have mismatched SIMMs on the right. I count 32 pins in the upper SIMM module, but only 30 pins in the lower. I would expect both to be 30 pin SIMM modules. Could that be the problem? I have never seen 32 pin SIMMs, to be honest.

Ahh you are correct. One has more pins. Odd. il have to take another look through my ram stash.

EDIT: Yeah these are 32pin Simms. What on earth are these!?
only found one other solo stick of 1mb with the requirement 30 pin in my stash.

The 32pin Simms where pulled originally out of a SoundBlaster 32 I had lying around.

Ah, SoundBlaster 32 needs 32 pins. Makes sense!

I bet that the 30 pin SIMMs will work.

root42 wrote on 2020-09-30, 18:50:

Ah, SoundBlaster 32 needs 32 pins. Makes sense!

I bet that the 30 pin SIMMs will work.

Time to buy some new SIMMS then.

Does anyone know if most 286 boards are fine with 2x2mbs, or if I need a full 4x1mbm?

Now all that's left weird with this board is the system timer error..

SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-09-30, 19:11:

Time to buy some new SIMMS then.

Does anyone know if most 286 boards are fine with 2x2mbs, or if I need a full 4x1mbm

I doubt you will find 2MiB SIMMs. 256KiB and 1MiB are prevalent. For a 286 1MiB total is already quite okay. But if you go to 4x1MiB you can run Windows quite well. And maybe smartdrv? 😀

SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-09-30, 18:48:

EDIT: Yeah these are 32pin Simms. What on earth are these!?
only found one other solo stick of 1mb with the requirement 30 pin in my stash.

The 32pin Simms where pulled originally out of a SoundBlaster 32 I had lying around.

It seems like the 32 pins are just the standard 30 pins with one extra unused contact added to the left and right. The soundblaster 32 uses the same 30-pin SIMM interface as any other common PC hardware. 3-chip 1M simms might need a different refresh pattern than 3-chip 256K simms or 9-chip 1M simms. Maybe the mainboard is incompatible with the new refresh pattern required by your 1MB SIMMs. If you try to source new 1MB SIMMs, try to get 9-chip SIMMs just to avoid this possible issue.

I never knew 32 pin existed and that two pins were unused. What a weird module.

The hint with 9 chip vs 3 chip is interesting. I have little knowledge about DRAM refresh, apart from the fact that it’s necessary. What are those patterns?

root42 wrote on 2020-09-30, 19:55:

I never knew 32 pin existed and that two pins were unused. What a weird module.

The hint with 9 chip vs 3 chip is interesting. I have little knowledge about DRAM refresh, apart from the fact that it’s necessary. What are those patterns?

I also saw the 32-pin module the first time in your picture, but comparing it to the 30-pin module below it, it's obvious that on the front side there is no difference except for one extra contact left and right. These extra contact are unconnected. I am very confident the extra contacts are also unconnected on the back side. It's not a separate kind of module, just look at the two extra pads as a kind of "decoration". I also counted pins on the SIMM socket on my SB32 - it has just 32 pins.

I wrote an explanation about the refresh issue recently in Re: 3-chip vs 9-chip 30-pin SIMMs. In that post, I was comparing 3-chip and 9-chip 256KB modules. The same theory most likely applies to 1MB modules as well, it's generally one address bit more, though. 1M x 1 or 1M x 4 chips have twice as much rows and twice as much columns as 256K x 1 / 256K x 4 chips, so they need just one extra addressing bit (which is used for both row and column number). For 1M modules, this basically revolves around whether A9 has a valid signal during refresh.

Thank you, that was very informative! I agree with you that it might be that this particular mainboard refreshes only half of the rows it seems, and that's why SodaSuccubus' other 286 board takes the SIMMs just fine.

Deksor wrote on 2020-09-30, 17:45:

I am going to add your board to UH19.
The image you posted is "ok", but it could be better (blurry and a little bit dark). Would you like to make a better one ? ^^

Here ya go! Sorry for the wait. This is about as good as I can get it with my phone's shite camera.

.

Anyway, I just ordered some more 30 pin SIMMS. Il update this thread once they arrive 😀